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United States · Official source
1,748 records where Rep. McCrery, Jim [R-LA-4] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1997
Extends congressional gratitude to Leslie Townes (Bob) Hope for his accomplishments and service on behalf of U.S. military service members. Confers upon Mr. Hope the status of an honorary veteran of the U.S. armed forces.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1997
Amends the Revenue Act of 1987 to repeal the termination date of a specified transition rule and permanently exempt from taxation as corporations certain publicly traded partnerships (master limited partnerships).
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1997
Expresses the sense of the Congress that certain provisions of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920 relating to transportation of merchandise between U.S. points in other than domestically built or rebuilt and documented vessels and to incineration of hazardous waste at sea (those provisions popularly known as the Jones Act) and related statutes are critically important components of our Nation's economic and military security and should be fully and strongly supported.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend, for five years, the credit for producing energy from wind or a closed-loop biomass.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1997
Medicare Medical Nutrition Therapy Act of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicare coverage of medical nutrition therapy services of registered dieticians and nutrition professionals.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Statement of Congressional Purpose Title II: Binding Budget Law Title III: Enforcement of Budget Discipline Subtitle A: Supermajority Required to Break Budget Law Subtitle B: Line Item Reduction Subtitle C: "Blank Check" Appropriations Prohibited Subtitle D: "Pay-as-You-Go" Requirement for New Spending Subtitle E: "Lock-Box" for Savings From Spending Reductions Title IV: Sustaining Mechanism Title V: Protection of Social Security Title VI: Technical Amendments to Federal Law to Carry Out This Act Title VII: Definitions and Rules of Interpretation Budget Process Reform Act - Title I: Statement of Congressional Purpose - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Federal budget process should focus the attention of policymakers and the public on the aggregate impact of Federal spending on the economy, and on the tradeoffs that must be made among priorities in order to control overall spending levels. Declares that the budget process should contain safeguards against delay and inaction, so that temporary shut-downs of the Government may be avoided. Title II: Binding Budget Law - Requires the Congress to enact a binding budget law, in the form of a joint resolution, by April 15 of the calendar year before that in which the fiscal period commences. (Sec. 202) Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (CBA) to make it out of order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any spending bill affecting spending in a major functional category unless and until a joint resolution on the budget is enacted. Allows waiver of such prohibition if such bill is required to be approved by a two-thirds majority vote in the House and the Senate. (Sec. 203) Prohibits baseline budgeting. Requires objective year-to-year comparisons under budget law, with the starting point for both presidential and congressional budgets the levels of budget outlays for the current fiscal year. (Sec. 204) Amends the CBA to require a budget law to include a major functional category ("rainy day fund") for natural disasters, subject to specified conditions. (Sec. 205) Amends Federal law to require the President to submit: (1) a budget, by the first Monday in February of each year before that in which a fiscal period commences, setting forth on a single page specific budget ceilings in each major functional category; and (2) a detailed budget, on or before the 15th day after a joint resolution on the budget is enacted. Title III: Enforcement of Budget Discipline - Subtitle A: Supermajority Required to Break Budget Law - Amends CBA to require the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to provide the appropriate House of Congress (or any committee, subcommittee, or conference) an estimate of the costs in each major functional category of each spending bill likely to result in costs of over $10 million, before being voted on by the Senate or the House, or any committee, subcommittee, or conference committee. (Sec. 301) Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House or the Senate (or any committee, subcommittee, or conference committee) to consider over-budget spending bills. (Sec. 302) Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House or the Senate, or both, to waive any provision of this Act. Subtitle B: Limited Enhanced Rescission Authority - Amends the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to authorize the President to exercise line-item reduction authority if the Congress, by two-thirds vote, exceeds the budget ceilings in the binding budget law or an automatic continuing resolution for a fiscal period. Declares that such authority shall permit the reduction of over-budget spending in a major functional category to the level established in the binding budget law or automatic continuing resolution. Subtitle C: "Blank Check" Appropriations Prohibited - Declares the intent of the Congress to end open-ended, "blank check" appropriations which typically authorize spending "such sums as may be necessary." (Sec. 306) Amends CBA to require fixed-dollar appropriations for every account except Social Security and interest on the debt. Prohibits open-ended appropriations. (Sec. 307) Requires executive agencies to adjust expenditures, including program eligibility requirements and benefit levels, to ensure that appropriations for entitlement programs are not exceeded. (Sec. 308) Restricts budget authority and entitlement authority to one fiscal period. Subtitle D: "Pay As You Go" Requirement for New Spending - Amends CBA to prohibit the Congress from considering any legislation which exceeds the budget ceiling unless it offsets such increased spending with an equal amount of reductions in spending in the same functional category. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House or in the Senate to waive such prohibition. (Sec. 309) Sets forth special rules in the case of legislation that exceeds a budget ceiling for the natural disaster functional category. Repeals an exemption in the House from pay-as-you-go rules. Subtitle E: "Lock-Box" for Savings From Spending Reductions - Amends CBA to: (1) establish "lock-box" procedures to ensure that budget savings from House and Senate amendments to appropriations bills result in actual spending cuts; (2) require CBO reports on such procedures; and (3) mandate reduction of spending allocations to House and Senate committees and subcommittees to meet "lock-box" levels. Title IV: Sustaining Mechanism - Makes appropriations to provide for an automatic continuing resolution if for any account an appropriation for a fiscal period does not become law before the beginning of such period. (Sec. 402) Provides for contingency regulations for automatic continuing resolutions. Grants each State the option of receiving an aggregate amount for the fiscal period for social safety net programs equal to the allocation to the State for such programs in the preceding fiscal period. (Sec. 403) Restricts consideration of legislation providing budget or spending authority to only that reported by the Committees on Appropriations. Makes such restriction inapplicable in the case of social security benefits. Title V: Protection of Social Security - Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to require or permit reductions in otherwise payable Social Security benefits. (Sec. 502) Amends Federal law to provide that no reduction in benefits under title II of the Social Security Act (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) shall be made as a consequence of this Act. Title VI: Technical Amendments to Federal Law to Carry Out This Act - Makes various technical and conforming amendments. Title VII: Definitions and Rules of Interpretation - Sets forth definitions for specified terms. Changes the definition of budget authority to exclude offsetting receipts and collections as negative budget authority.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1997
Declares that the House of Representatives: (1) endorses the efforts of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to upgrade the currency for security reasons; and (2) strongly encourages the Secretary of the Treasury and the Bureau to incorporate cost-effective, tactile features into the design changes, thereby including the blind and visually impaired community in independent currency usage.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1997
Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997 - Revises the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to instruct the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary) to: (1) develop and operate a repository for the permanent geologic disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste; (2) accept spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste by no later than January 31, 2000; (3) provide for the transportation of such wastes; and (4) pursue expeditiously the development of each component of the integrated management system. Requires intermodal transfer (rail-to-heavy-haul-truck) of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste pending direct rail access to the interim storage facility site. Sets a deadline for the Secretary to develop the capability to commence rail to truck intermodal transfer at Caliente, Nevada. Provides for heavy-haul transportation route and truck transportation. Requires the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Caliente and Lincoln County, Nevada, to provide advice to the Commission regarding intermodal transfer and to facilitate on-site representation. Subjects the Secretary's movement of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste by heavy-haul transport route to the exclusive regulatory purview of the Secretary of Transportation and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Prescribes transportation planning, package certification, technical assistance, interim storage facility, permanent disposal, land withdrawal, and private storage facility requirements to ensure that the Secretary is able to accept spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste by January 31, 2000, and transport it to mainline transportation facilities. Instructs the Secretary to: (1) offer Nye County, Nevada an opportunity to designate an on-site oversight representative; and (2) offer to enter into separate benefits agreements with Lincoln and Nye Counties concerning the integrated management system. Requires the Secretary to make certain initial land conveyances to Nye County. Authorizes the Secretary to contract with any person holding title to or generating or holding title to spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste of domestic origin for the acceptance of title, and possession, transportation, interim storage, and disposal. Requires the Secretary to determine the level of an annual fee for electricity generated and sold by each civilian nuclear power reactor. Permits the Secretary to make expenditures from the Nuclear Waste Fund in the event of a shortfall. Delineates budget priorities in the event of such shortfall. Requires the NRC to suspend the license of any licensee who fails or refuses to pay the currently required one-time fee on spent nuclear fuel, or high-level radioactive waste derived from it, and used to generate electricity in a civilian nuclear power reactor before April 7, 1983. Provides that payment of the one-time fee relieves the responsible party from further financial obligation to the Federal Government for its long-term storage or permanent disposal. Authorizes the NRC to require prior agreement with the Secretary for spent fuel and waste disposal as a precondition to the issuance or renewal of a license. Continues the Nuclear Waste Fund and the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management. Directs the Secretary to: (1) issue a final rule establishing the appropriate portion of the costs of managing spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste allocable to the interim storage or permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel, high-level radioactive waste from atomic energy defense activities, and spent nuclear fuel from foreign research reactors; and (2) advise the Congress annually of the amount of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel from atomic energy defense activities requiring management in the integrated spent nuclear fuel management system. Grants the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and this Act preeminence in the event of a conflict or duplication of laws. Precludes this Act from being construed as: (1) constituting either an express or implied Federal reservation of water rights for any purpose arising under it; (2) authorizing the Federal use of eminent domain to acquire water rights; or (3) limiting the exercise of water rights as provided under Nevada State laws. Grants the U.S. courts of appeals original and exclusive jurisdiction over civil actions under this Act. Prescribes guidelines for NRC licensing hearings. Prohibits the Secretary from conducting site-specific activities for a second repository unless the Congress has specifically authorized and appropriated funds for them. Requires the NRC to promulgate regulatory guidelines for: (1) financial assurances for low-level radioactive waste site closures; and (2) training and qualification of civilian nuclear powerplant personnel. Delineates an acceptance schedule for contract holders' spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. Prohibits: (1) subseabed or ocean water disposal of spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste; and (2) any obligation of funds for any such related activity. Continues the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to take necessary action to improve the management of the civilian radioactive waste management program to ensure that it is operated to the maximum extent like a private business. Directs the Secretary to employ, on an on-going basis, integrated performance modeling regarding site characterization.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Relief for All Individuals Title II: Additional Relief for Family-Owned Businesses and Farms Title III: Benefits for Conservation Easements Title IV: Benefits for Historic Preservation Family Business Protection Act of 1997 - Title I: Relief for All Individuals - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to replace the unified credit against the estate tax and the unified credit against the gift tax with a unified exemption amount. Title II: Additional Relief for Family-Owned Businesses and Farms - Excludes from the value of the gross estate of certain decedents specified portions of qualified family-owned business interests. Title III: Benefits for Conservation Easements - Excludes from the gross estate, if the executor elects, the value of land subject to a qualified conservation easement, except for any debt-financed portion. Provides for the treatment of any retained development right. Adds references to such property to provisions controlling the basis of property acquired from a decedent. (Sec. 302) Prohibits treating the transfer by gift of land subject to a qualified conservation easement as a transfer of property by gift for purposes of provisions relating to gift taxes. (Sec. 303) Amends provisions relating to the valuation of certain farm and other real property to prohibit a qualified conservation contribution (as defined in provisions relating to charitable contributions) from being deemed a disposition unless it is subject to a conservation easement. Declares that, if property is otherwise qualified real property, being subject to a conservation easement does not disqualify it. (Sec. 304) Allows a contribution to be treated as exclusively for conservation purposes if the surface estate and mineral interests have been and remain separated (currently, if the surface estate and mineral interests were separated before June 13, 1976, and remain separated) and if the probability of surface mining is so remote as to be negligible. Title IV: Benefits for Historic Preservation - Provides that for purposes of determining the estate tax the value of the taxable estate shall be determined by deducting from the value of the gross estate an amount equal to the value of any qualified historic property included in the estate.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1997
Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act Class Action Relief Act of 1997 - Amends the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 to provide a moratorium between the date of enactment of this Act and December 31, 1998, on class certification, sanction imposition, or other proceedings with regard to class action lawsuits under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1997
Congratulates the residents of Jerusalem and the people of Israel on the 30th anniversary of the reunification of that city. Calls upon the President and the Secretary of State to affirm publicly as a matter of U.S. policy that Jerusalem must remain the undivided capital of Israel. Urges U.S. officials to refrain from any actions that contradict this policy.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend permanently the tax credit for expenses of clinical testing of certain drugs for rare diseases or conditions.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1997
Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 1997 - Provides collective bargaining rights for public safety officers employed by States or local governments. Requires States to grant public safety employees the right to form and join a labor organization which excludes management and supervisory employees, and which is, or seeks to be, recognized as the exclusive bargaining agent for such employees. Specifies related requirements for public safety employers. Requires the Director the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) to issue regulations establishing collective bargaining procedures for public safety employers and employees in States that fail to comply with the requirements of this Act. Gives the FMCS the same authority as a State Labor Relations Board (or of the National Labor Relations Board where no such State Board exists) for public safety employers and employees covered by this Act. Grants a public safety employer, employee, or labor organization the right to seek enforcement of such regulations through appropriate State courts. Prohibits public safety employers, employees, and labor organizations from engaging in lockouts or strikes. Provides that existing collective bargaining units and agreements shall not be invalidated by this Act. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1997
Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to prohibit the use of ESEA funds to promote teaching or using dialects peculiar to a region or group within the U.S. population. Allows teachers, notwithstanding such prohibition, to: (1) be trained in, use, and teach foreign languages; and (2) communicate in their own modes of speech, if no special effort is made to teach or encourage students to communicate in such modes of speech.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Removal of Tax Traps for the Unwary Title II: Conformity with Regulated Investment Company Rules Title III: Other Simplification Real Estate Investment Trust Tax Simplification Act of 1997 - Title I: Removal of Tax Traps for the Unwary - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose monetary penalties for the failure of a real estate investment trust (REIT) to comply with regulations regarding ascertaining the actual ownership of the outstanding shares, or certificates of beneficial interest, of the REIT. Requires treating a complying REIT as if it had met a requirement to not be closely held if it does not know, or exercising reasonable diligence would not have known, whether it was closely held. (Sec. 102) Revises the definition of "rents from real property" with regard to impermissible tenant service income and constructive ownership of stock. Title II: Conformity with Regulated Investment Company Rules - Provides for the treatment by shareholders of undistributed capital gains. Title III: Other Simplification - Revises requirements concerning the treatment of earnings and profits with regard to certain distributions. (Sec. 302) Modifies the grace period regarding foreclosure property. Allows one extension (currently, one or more extensions). Allows a REIT to revoke an election to treat property as foreclosure property. Changes requirements concerning termination of the grace period. (Sec. 303) Sets forth special foreclosure rules for health care properties. (Sec. 304) Revises: (1) the treatment of certain interest rate agreements; (2) the formula for determining the amount of excess noncash income; and (3) the circumstances in which a sale of property that is a real estate asset is not a prohibited transaction. (Sec. 307) Provides for the circumstances in which sale of secured property by a REIT will be treated as if the REIT had held the property for at least four years. (Sec. 308) Removes a requirement that, in order to be a qualified REIT subsidiary, the stock of a corporation must have been held by the REIT at all times the corporation was in existence.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1997
Historic Homeownership Assistance Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for 20 percent of the qualified rehabilitation expenditures made by a taxpayer with respect to a certified historic home which has been substantially rehabilitated and which is owned by the taxpayer and used as his or her principal residence. Allows the credit for such expenditures to be taken by a purchaser of the rehabilitated home. Permits, in lieu of the credit, a historic rehabilitation mortgage credit certificate, which shall be transferred to a lender in exchange for a reduction in the rate of interest on the loan secured by the building.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1997
Merchant Mariners Fairness Act of 1997 - Provides that certain qualified service of a member of the U.S. merchant marine, including a vessel crewmember of the U.S. Army or Naval Transport Service, during World War II constituted active military service for purposes of eligibility for various veterans' benefits under the GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977. Requires the Secretary of Defense to issue an honorable discharge under such Act to each merchant marine member whose qualified service warrants such a discharge. Prohibits the payment of any retroactive benefits under this Act. Mandates a processing fee for any benefit application of a member possessing such qualified service.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1997
Birth Defects Prevention Act of 1997 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish birth defects prevention and research programs. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), to provide for collection, analysis, and reporting of birth defects statistics from birth certificates, infant death certificates, hospital records, or other sources and to collect and disaggregate such statistics by gender and racial and ethnic group. Directs the Secretary to establish at least five regional birth defects monitoring and research programs to collect and analyze information on the number, incidence, correlation, and causes of birth defects. Authorizes the Secretary, acting through the Director of CDC, to award grants or enter into cooperative agreements with specified entities to serve as Centers of Excellence for Birth Defects Prevention Research. Requires one of the Centers to focus on birth defects among ethnic minorities. Requires the CDC to establish a clearinghouse for the collection and storage of data generated from birth defects monitoring programs developed under this Act. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Director of the CDC, to provide for the evaluation, and implementation of prevention strategies designed to reduce the incidence and effects of birth defects. Requires the Secretary, acting through the CDC, to consult with State and local governmental agencies, managed care organizations, nonprofit organizations, physicians, and other health professionals and organizations. Directs the Secretary to establish an Advisory Committee for Birth Defects Prevention. Requires the Secretary to report biennially to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources regarding birth defects. Subjects the provisions of this Act to requirements of the Privacy Act. Applies all Federal laws relating to the privacy of information to the data and information that is collected under this Act. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1997
State Occupancy Standards Affirmation Act of 1997 - Prohibits the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from establishing a national occupancy standard (as defined by this Act, with an exception for health and safety protection purposes). Provides that: (1) a State standard shall be considered reasonable for purposes of determining familial status discrimination; and (2) the Secretary, in the absence of a State standard, shall take no action respecting a two-person per bedroom standard established by a housing provider.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1997
HIV Prevention Act of 1997 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to add certain requirements relating to prevention of the transmission of the HIV virus which State Medicaid plans must incorporate in order to receive Federal approval. Includes among such requirements: (1) mandatory confidential reporting of HIV positive results by the health professional or other entity performing HIV tests to the State public health officer; (2) informing of individuals who may have been exposed to HIV by the public health officer of the State (partner notification); (3) mandatory HIV testing of alleged rapists for which victims and their attorneys are notified of the results, with appropriate follow up tests upon the request of the victim; (4) subjection to mandatory HIV testing of prospective patients who are to undergo a medical procedure that would place the health professionals involved at risk of becoming infected with HIV, with the health professionals notified of the results; (5) affording applicants for health insurance who are required by the health insurance issuer to undergo HIV testing as a condition of issuance the opportunity to be informed by the issuer, upon request, of the applicant's HIV status; and (6) affording prospective adoptive parents the opportunity to be informed by the adoption agency, upon request, of the HIV status of the child which they wish to adopt. Expresses the sense of the Congress that with respect to health professionals with HIV disease: (1) the health professionals should notify their patients that they have the disease in medical circumstances that place the patients at risk of being infected with HIV by the health professionals; and (2) the States should encourage the medical profession to develop guidelines to assist the health professionals in so notifying patients. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) States should have in effect laws providing that, in the case of an individual who knows that he or she has HIV disease, it is a felony for the individual to infect another with HIV if the individual engages in the behaviors involved with the intent of so infecting the other individual; and (2) strict confidentiality should be maintained in carrying out the requirements of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1997
Internet Tax Freedom Act - Prohibits a State or local government from imposing, assessing, or attempting to collect any tax or fee on the Internet or interactive computer services (ICs) or on their use. Preserves State and local taxing authority with respect to income, license, and sales taxes. Directs the Secretaries of the Treasury, Commerce, or State to: (1) undertake an examination of U.S. and international taxation of the Internet and ICs, as well as commerce conducted thereon; and (2) jointly submit to the President appropriate policy recommendations concerning such taxation. Directs the President to transmit to the appropriate congressional committees policy recommendations on the taxation of sales and other transactions effected on the Internet or through ICs. Requires all such recommendations to be consistent with policy statements of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to state that the Federal Communications Commission or any equivalent State commission shall have no regulatory authority or jurisdiction with respect to charges paid by subscribers for ICs or information services transmitted through the Internet, except for the requirement that such services be provided at affordable rates to rural health care providers, schools, and libraries. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should seek bilateral and multilateral agreements through various international forums to establish that activity on the Internet and ICs be free from tariff and taxation.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1997
Pharmacy Compounding Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to make specified provisions of that Act inapplicable to a drug or device that is compounded by a licensed pharmacist, licensed physician, or other licensed practitioner authorized by State law to prescribe drugs or devices. Declares null and void a proposed rule concerning exceptions to good manufacturing practices for makers of positron emission tomography drug products and a guideline on the manufacture of such products. Prohibits another proposed regulation or guideline on those matters.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal provisions limiting the number of taxpayers having medical savings accounts.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1997
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) any bilateral or international agreement that imposes certain performance, testing, and deployment limits on U.S. missile defense systems would not be in the national security interests of the United States; (2) no additional international agreements are required to deploy such systems; and (3) the Congress will not be receptive to any agreement that serves to reduce the potential of U.S. theater missile defense systems to defend the U.S. armed forces abroad or the armed forces or population of allies of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1997
Return Capital To The American People Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide all taxpayers with a 50 percent capital gains deduction. Allows such deduction in computing adjusted gross income. (Sec. 3) Increases from 50 to 75 percent the exclusion for gain from the sale or exchange of certain qualified small business stock. Reduces from three to five the number of years which such stock must be held in order to be excludable. Makes such exclusion available to corporations. Repeals the minimum tax preference. Doubles the dollar gross asset limits domestic C corporations must not exceed in order to qualify for the exclusion and institues an inflation adjustment. Repeals the per-issuer limitation. Modifies the working capital limitation and the definition of a qualified trade or business. (Sec. 4) Provides for the taxation of the gain from the sale of qualified small business stock, when such gain is used to purchase qualified small business stock, only to the extent that the amount realized from the sale exceeds: (1) the cost of any qualified small business stock purchased within 60 days of the sale; and (2) any portion of such cost previously taken into account. (Sec. 5) Substitutes the indexed basis, based on the "applicable inflation adjustment" (as defined), for the adjusted basis of assets held more than three years for purposes of determining gain or loss on the disposition of: (1) common stock in a C corporation; or (2) tangible property, which is a capital asset or property used in a trade or business. Sets forth special rules: (1) where there is a diminished risk of loss; (2) for short sales; (3) for regulated investment companies and real estate investment trusts; (4) for other pass-through entities; (5) for dispositions between related persons; (6) for transfers to increase the indexing adjustment; (7) for the sale of a principal residence; and (8) to cover other situations. (Sec. 6) Permits a capital loss deduction with repect to the sale or exchange of a principal residence.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Hemophilia Relief Fund Title II: Treatment of Certain Private Settlement Payments in Hemophilia-Clotting-Factor Suit under the Medicaid and SSI Programs Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act of 1997 - Title I: Hemophilia Relief Fund - Establishes in the Treasury the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 103) Specifies that any individual who has a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection shall receive $125,000 from amounts available in the Fund if the individual meets one of the following conditions: (1) has a blood-clotting disorder and was treated with blood-clotting agents between July 1, 1982, and December 31, 1987; (2) is the lawful spouse of such individual or the former lawful spouse and was the lawful spouse of the individual at any time after a date within such period on which the individual was treated; or (3) acquired the HIV infection through perinatal transmission from a parent who is such an individual. Requires that the following conditions be met with respect to such individual: (1) the individual submit to the Secretary of Health and Human Services written medical documentation that the individual has an HIV infection; (2) a petition for payment be filed with the Secretary by or on behalf of such individual; and (3) that the Secretary determine that the claim meets the requirements of this Act. (Sec. 105) Specifies that any right under this Act shall not be assignable or transferable. Sets limits regarding the number of claims per victim. (Sec. 106) Prohibits the Secretary from making any payment with respect to any petition filed under this Act unless the petition is filed within three years after the enactment of this Act. Title II: Treatment of Certain Private Settlement Payments in Hemophilia-Clotting-Factor Suit under the Medicaid and SSI Programs - Prohibits a settlement payment from being considered income or resources in determining a class member's eligibility for, or the amount of: (1) medical assistance under the Medicaid program; or (2) benefits under the Supplemental Security Income program. Defines the terms: (1) "class member"; and (2) "settlement payment."
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1997
Amateur Radio Volunteer Services Act of 1997 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to provide that an individual licensee in the amateur radio service who provides volunteer services to the Federal Communications Commission shall be deemed to be a Federal employee only for purposes of Federal tort claims procedure (the adjudication of claims against Federal employees for damages or injuries caused by the employee while acting within the scope of employment).
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1997
Individual Investment Account Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction for amounts contributed to individual investment accounts. Allows tax-free distributions, limited to $15,000 for all taxable years, from such accounts for use in the purchase of a principal residence by a first-time homebuyer. Makes such accounts tax-exempt unless the individual engages in prohibited transactions. Adjusts dollar limitations under this Act for inflation. Allows such deduction in determining adjusted gross income. Exempts such accounts from estate tax. Excludes from gross income gain from the sale or exchange of property if, during the five-year period ending on the date of the sale or exchange, such property has been owned and used by the taxpayer as a principal residence for periods aggregating three years or more. Limits such exclusion to the amount paid to an individual investment account during the one-year period beginning on the date of the sale or exchange. Provides for adjusting the basis of a residence acquired through the use of an individual investment account.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the post-1987 reduction in the State ceiling on private activity bonds. Provides, beginning in 1999, for cost-of-living adjustments in the State ceiling on such bonds.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1997
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1997 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit performing a partial birth abortion in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, unless it is necessary to save the life of the mother and no other medical procedure would suffice. Defines "partial-birth abortion" as an abortion in which the person performing the procedure partially vaginally delivers a living fetus before killing the infant and completing the delivery. Prescribes penalties. Authorizes the father and, if the mother is under 18 years of age, the maternal grandparents of the fetus to obtain specified relief in a civil action, even if the mother consented to the abortion, unless the pregnancy resulted from the plaintiff's criminal conduct or the plaintiff consented to the abortion. Prohibits the prosecution of a woman upon whom a partial-birth abortion is performed for conspiracy to violate this Act or under provisions regarding punishment as a principal or an accessory or for concealment of a felony.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1997
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to remove the requirement for an X-ray as a condition of coverage of chiropractic services under the Medicare program.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1997
Family Heritage Preservation Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the estate tax, gift tax, and tax on generation-skipping transfers.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1997
American Land Sovereignty Protection Act - Amends the National Historic Preservation Act Amendments of 1980 to prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from nominating any Federal lands for inclusion on the World Heritage List pursuant to the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage unless: (1) the Secretary finds that commercially viable uses of nominated lands (including lands located within ten miles of them) will not be adversely affected by such inclusion, and publishes that finding; (2) the Secretary has reported to the Congress on the lands' natural resources and the impact that the inclusion would have on existing and future uses of such lands; and (3) such nomination is specifically authorized by a law. (Sec. 3) Authorizes the President to submit proposals for legislation authorizing such a nomination. Requires the Secretary to object to the inclusion of any property in the United States on the list of World Heritage in Danger (established under the Convention) unless the Secretary: (1) has reported to the Congress on the necessity for such inclusion, including the natural resources associated with the property, and the impact that such inclusion would have on existing and future uses of such property; and (2) is specifically authorized to assent to the inclusion by a joint resolution of the Congress enacted after the report is submitted. Directs the Secretary to report annually to specified congressional committees certain information on each World Heritage Site within the United States. (Sec. 4) Prohibits Federal officials from nominating lands in the United States for designation as a Biosphere Reserve under the Man and Biosphere Program of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Provides that any such designation shall not have, and shall not be given, any force or effect, unless the Biosphere Reserve: (1) is specifically authorized by a law enacted before December 31, 2000; (2) consists solely of federally-owned lands; and (3) is subject to a management plan that specifically ensures that the use of intermixed or adjacent non-Federal property is not limited or restricted as a result of that designation. Directs the Secretary of State to report annually to specified congressional committees information on each Biosphere Reserve within the United States. (Sec. 5) Prohibits, under any international agreement (with exceptions under certain wetlands agreements and conventions), the nomination, classification, or designation of: (1) federally-owned lands located within the United States for a special or restricted use unless specifically authorized by law; (2) State or local government lands unless specifically authorized by State or local law; or (3) privately owned lands without the owner's consent.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1997
Continues existing average fuel economy standards for passenger and non-passenger automobiles until such standards are specifically amended or changed by law.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1997
Increases the salaries of the Chief Justice and associate Supreme Court justices of the United States and the judges of the United States courts of appeals, the United States district courts, and the United States Court of International Trade by 9.6 percent. Requires future adjustments in judicial salaries to equal the percentage by which General Schedule pay rates are adjusted (currently, the percentage change in the Employment Cost Index).
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1997
Extends the termination date (and restores lapsed authority) for milk marketing order seasonal base plans under the Agricultural Adjustment Act.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1997
Access to Medical Treatment Act - Permits any individual to be treated by a health care practitioner with any medical treatment that the individual desires (including a treatment that is not approved, certified, or licensed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services) if: (1) the practitioner agrees to treat the individual; and (2) the administration of such treatment does not violate licensing laws. Authorizes health care practitioners to provide any method of treatment to such an individual if certain requirements are met. Requires a practitioner to report: (1) administering such treatment and discovering it to be a danger to an individual; and (2) the positive effects of an unconventional medical treatment for a life-threatening medical condition.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1997
Constitutional Amendment - Declares that the Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the U.S. flag.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 1997
Freedom From Government Competition Act of 1997 - Requires Federal agencies to obtain all goods and services necessary for or beneficial to the accomplishment of their authorized functions by procurement from private sources, unless except as specified. (Sec. 4) Directs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to establish a Center for Commercial Activities and Privatization within OMB to: (1) be responsible for the implementation of and compliance with the policies, standards, and procedures that are set forth in this Act or are prescribed to carry out this Act; and (2) provide agencies and private sector entities with guidance, information, and other assistance appropriate for facilitating conversions to use of private sector entities for providing goods and services on behalf of the Federal Government. (Sec. 5) Amends Federal law to require that each agency shall include in its annual performance plan the identity of each program activity that is: (1) performed for the agency by a private sector entity in accordance with this Act; and (2) not subject to this Act by reason of an exception, together with a discussion specifying why the activity is determined to be covered by the exception. Revises requirements regarding program performance reports to require each agency, in its annual program performance report, in the case of an activity not performed by a private sector entity, to: (1) explain and describe whether an activity not performed by a private sector entity could be performed by a private sector entity in accordance with this Act; and (2) if the activity could be performed by a private sector entity, set forth a schedule for converting to performance of the activity by a private sector entity.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 1997
Senior Citizens' Tax Fairness Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the phaseout and repeal of the tax increase on social security benefits made under the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1993.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 1997
Constitutional Amendment - Requires the President to transmit to the Congress, before each fiscal year, a proposed statement of receipts and outlays for such fiscal year in which outlays (except those for repayment of debt principal) are not greater than receipts (except those derived from borrowing)(a proposed balanced budget). Requires the Congress to adopt, by law, a statement of receipts and outlays for such fiscal year in which outlays are not greater than receipts (a balanced budget). Authorizes the Congress to amend, by law, that balanced budget, provided revised outlays are not greater than revised receipts. Authorizes the Congress to provide in balanced budget for a specific excess of outlays over receipts by a vote directed solely to that subject in which two-thirds of the whole number of each House agree to such excess. Requires the Congress and the President to ensure that actual outlays do not exceed the outlays set forth in such balanced budget. Prohibits any increase in the limit on the debt of the United States, unless two-thirds roll call vote of each House provides by law for such an increase. Requires any bill that increases the internal revenue (except by a de minimis amount) to receive for final adoption the concurrence of two-thirds of each House. Permits the Congress to waive the requirements of this article when: (1) a declaration of war is in effect; or (2) the United States is engaged in military conflict which causes an imminent and serious threat to national security and is so declared by a joint resolution, adopted by a majority of each House, which becomes law. Makes any increase in the internal revenue enacted under such a waiver effective for only two years. Makes the internal revenue provisions of this Article effective upon ratification, and the remaining provisions effective on the later of FY 2002 or the second fiscal year beginning after ratification.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Commemorative Coins Title II: Circulating Coins Thomas Alva Edison Sesquicentennial Commemorative Coin Act - Title I: Commemorative Coins - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint one-dollar silver coins emblematic of the inventions of Thomas Alva Edison in commemoration of the sesquicentennial of his birth. Directs the Secretary to conduct an open design competition for the design of the obverse and reverse of the coins. Terminates the authority to mint such coins after December 31, 1997. Requires that certain surcharges received from coin sales be distributed to specified entities. Title II: Circulating Coins - Amends Federal law to declare that half-dollar coins minted between specified dates shall have the same design as the commemorative coins minted under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1997
ISTEA Integrity Restoration Act - Authorizes appropriations out of the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account) for the: (1) National Highway System (NHS); (2) Surface Transportation Program (STP); and (3) Federal Lands Highway Program, including Indian reservation roads, public lands highways, and parkways and park highways. (Sec. 4) Defines "highway funds" as funds apportioned and allocations authorized under this Act for the fiscal year and funds allocated to a State for the preceding fiscal year for Federal-aid highways and highway safety construction. Revises the apportionment of NHS funds to allocate 0.4 percent (previously, one percent) to U.S. territories and possessions, and the remaining 99.6 among the States according to a formula based on population density. Includes bridge construction and related activities among eligible NHS projects. (Sec. 5) Repeals provisions regarding: (1) apportionments for resurfacing, restoring, rehabilitating, and reconstructing the Interstate System (IS); and (2) the transfer of interstate construction apportionments, the transfer of funds for STP projects, and limits on new capacity. (Sec. 6) Includes bridge construction and related activities as an eligible activity within the streamlined STP. Makes eligible under the STP an area of a State that is a nonattainment area for ozone or carbon monoxide, or for particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than or equal to ten micrometers resulting from transportation activities, or for any combination thereof, for congestion mitigation and air quality improvement projects without regard to any Department of Transportation limitation relating to the type of ambient air quality standard addressed by such project. Revises: (1) State certification procedures; and (2) procedures for payments to States for eligible STP activities. (Sec. 7) Directs that, for purposes of STP and IS provisions, population shall be determined based on the most recent estimate prepared by the Secretary of Commerce. (Sec. 8) Repeals provisions regarding: (1) the highway bridge replacement and rehabilitation program; and (2) the congestion mitigation and air quality improvement program. (Sec. 10) Replaces provisions regarding minimum allocations to States with an apportionment adjustment program under which the Secretary shall apportion among the States amounts sufficient to ensure that the ratio of the highway funds of a State to highway funds of all States for the fiscal year is not less than the adjustment percentage specified for that State under this Act. Requires each State to receive additional apportionments so that its percentage of highway funds is not less than 95 percent of the percentage of estimated tax payments attributable to highway users in the State paid into the Highway Trust Fund. Repeals: (1) existing apportionment adjustment programs; and (2) set-asides for interstate discretionary projects. (Sec. 12) Reduces from 3.75 to 2.35 the percentage of program funds authorized to be set aside for administrative costs. (Sec. 13) Sets forth provisions regarding permissible transfers of unobligated balances of funds apportioned to a State for: (1) congestion mitigation and air quality improvement; (2) interstate construction and maintenance; (3) bridge replacement and rehabilitation; and (4) the STP.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1997
Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund Amendments Act of 1997- Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to distribute to States at least 85 percent of the funds appropriated to EPA from the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund each fiscal year for the reasonable costs under cooperative agreements of: (1) State actions under the EPA program for petroleum release responses; (2) necessary administrative expenses directly related to corrective action and compensation programs under State financial responsibility requirements; (3) such programs in any instance, as determined by the State, in which an owner's or operator's financial resources (excluding resources provided by such programs) are inadequate to pay the costs of a corrective action without significantly impairing the ability to continue in business; (4) enforcement of an approved State or local underground storage tank (UST) program or similar provisions; and (5) State and local corrective actions pursuant to regulations regarding corrective action in response to UST releases. Prohibits use of such funds to provide financial assistance to an owner or operator in meeting regulatory requirements for upgrading of existing UST systems. Sets forth requirements for allocation of funds to States. Makes inapplicable to Trust Fund amounts provided to owners or operators under programs described in (2), above, provisions for recovery of petroleum release corrective or enforcement action costs.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1997
Agricultural Lands Protection Act of 1997 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and the Food Security Act of 1985 to exempt from certain wetland conservation requirements privately-owned crop, range, or pasture lands that have been used for crop production or livestock grazing for at least five of the preceding ten years.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1997
Teamwork for Employees and Managers Act of 1997 - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to declare that, where no labor organization is the representative of an employer's employees, it shall not be an unfair labor practice for the employer to establish, assist, maintain, or participate in an organization or entity: (1) in which employees participate to at least the same extent as management representatives to address matters of mutual interest (including issues of quality, productivity, and efficiency); and (2) which cannot negotiate, enter into, or amend collective bargaining agreements.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1997
Right to Life Act of 1997 - States that the Congress declares that the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human being at fertilization.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1997
Criminal Welfare Prevention Act, Part II - Amends the Social Security Act (SSA) to require the Commissioner of Social Security to enter into an agreement with a State or local jail or correctional facility under which the facility shall report monthly the name and social security number of any inmate who has received a benefit check under SSA title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) despite being prohibited under other existing SSA law because of confinement in a correctional institution. Requires the Commissioner to pay any complying institution: (1) $400 if it furnishes the information within 30 days; or (2) $200 if it does so within 90 days.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for a deduction for lobbying expenses in connection with State legislation.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit, if an individual receives a frequent flier benefit as a result of the purchase in a trade or business of property or services: (1) including any amount in such individual's gross income as a result of receiving such benefit; (2) any deduction otherwise allowable for the purchase of such property or services from being reduced by reason of such benefit; and (3) any deduction allowable for the portion of any transportation purchase using such a benefit.